360 



EUSSIA IN EUEOPE. 



Althougli frequented by fishers, and notwithstanding its proximity to the 

 mainland, the interior of Novaya Zemlya is still very imperfectly known. It 

 has been visited by Liitke, Baer, Heuglin, Wilczek, and other scientific explorers, 

 but its systematic study is fur from being complete, and little has hitherto been 

 done beyond determining the coast-line and its total area, which is estimated at 

 about 36,430 square miles. Few of the heights have been accurately fixed, but 



Fig. 190. — View fhom the Matochkin Shar, Novaya Zemlya. 



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from the summit of Wilczek Point (4,212 feet) Hofer and Wilczek noted, on 

 either side of the strait, several crests at least 4,000 feet high, and the mean 

 elevation of the land seems to be about the same as that of Spitzbergen. The 

 Mitushev Kamen, west of AYilczek Point, consists of protogine, like Mont Blanc, 

 but the chief formations are schists and Devonian rocks, including some slaty 

 strata so black that they have often been mistaken for coal. The island was 

 formerly supposed to be rich in minerals, particularly silver, but the special 



